NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three Siebert Williams Shank & Co. (SWS) clients have been honored with the Bond Buyer’s 2025 Deal of the Year designation, a prestigious annual honor recognizing outstanding achievements in municipal finance across the country. SWS clients earned top honors in the Green Financing, Innovative Financing and Midwest Region categories, reflecting the firm’s significant investments in the Midwest and in its growing Quantitative Solutions Group. Siebert Williams Shank and the transactions it has led for clients have been part of Bond Buyer Deal of the Year award winners every year since 2019.
- Green Financing winner: New York Transportation Development Corporation’s $1.95 billion green bond for the JFK International Airport Terminal 6 redevelopment.
- Midwest Region winner: Columbus Regional Airport Authority’s $1.21 billion issuance of AMT and non-AMT airport revenue bonds, the inaugural issuance for a $2 billion capital program at John Glenn Columbus International.
- Innovative Financing winner: State of Wisconsin’s $454.3 million general obligation refunding, which pioneered the municipal market’s first fixed-spread tender transaction for tax-exempt bonds.
“This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of what municipal finance can deliver — from first-of-their-kind structures and record-setting transactions to smaller but high-impact deals meeting urgent local needs,” said Mike Scarchilli, editor in chief of The Bond Buyer. “Together they showcase the ingenuity, discipline, and public-purpose focus that move communities forward, even amid challenging markets.”
The Green Financing winner was the New York Transportation Development Corporation’s $1.95 billion green bond issuance for the JFK International Airport Terminal 6 redevelopment project, one of the largest green bond financings ever executed for any airport facility. Siebert Williams Shank served as Joint-Senior Manager on the deal, leading the transaction’s Green Bond designation process and engaging in all aspects of financing.
Following positive investor analysis, the JFK Terminal 6 financing was upsized from $1.5 billion to $1.95 billion on the day of pricing. The bonds were oversubscribed by more than 5x, ultimately generating over $10 billion of priority orders from over 120 investors.
The financing advances a high-efficiency terminal program featuring rooftop solar panels for renewable energy, fully electric ground support, stormwater capture and reuse, and 90% waste diversion by recycling materials like asphalt, concrete and steel. It is part of a $5 billion JFK T6 Project encompassing the demolition of Terminal 7 and the design and construction of Terminal 6, which is expected to improve customer experience and service by offering over 1.2M square feet of world-class facilities capable of handling international and domestic passenger traffic, 10 aircraft gates, modern passenger amenities and connectivity to Terminal 5.
JFK is the nation’s busiest international gateway and the largest airport in the New York metropolitan region, generating over 50% more international passengers than the second-largest U.S. international gateway. The $1.95 billion green bond issuance marked the first Convertible Capital Appreciation Bond for a U.S. airport financing and the largest single 30+ year maturity for a U.S. airport.
The Bond Buyer’s Midwest Region winner was the Columbus Regional Airport Authority’s $1.21 billion issuance of AMT and non-AMT airport revenue bonds, the inaugural issuance for a $2 billion capital program at John Glenn Columbus International. Siebert Williams Shank served as Co-Senior Manager on the deal, working diligently with the financing team to review the new bond indenture and POS as well as contribute to the rating agency presentation and market/pricing calls. SWS also led the creation of a new investor presentation to reintroduce the credit to the market.
Based on strong momentum and investor interest, the Columbus transaction achieved a 4.1x subscription level in orders from 88 investors. The Authority decided to upsize the transaction by over $200 million and lowered yields by as much as 7 bps for the AMT bonds and up to 11 bps for the non-AMT bonds.
Proceeds of the bonds funded a portion of the New Midfield Terminal Project (NMTP) at John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The NMTP is designed to meet the growing capacity needs of the region and will replace the existing terminal that dates back to 1958. Elements of the NMTP include: increasing from 29 to 36 gates, passenger capacity increasing from 9 to 13 million annual passengers, one centralized security checkpoint for ease and efficiency, modernized amenities and construction of a new parking garage.
The Innovative Financing winner was the State of Wisconsin’s $454.3 million general obligation refunding, which pioneered the municipal market’s first fixed-spread tender transaction for tax-exempt bonds. Siebert Williams Shank served as Co-Senior Manager on the deal, pushing for a unique approach to change the way tax-exempt tenders are executed in the municipal market.
The unique tender pricing methodology reduced both issuer and bondholder exposure to interest rate volatility during the tender process. It also eliminated the issuer’s asymmetric rate risk in a fixed price tender, enabling a more predicable outcome and universally positive reception from market participants.
The overall process ultimately helped Wisconsin achieve $30.2 million in economic savings, and it established a repeatable model for liability management that many issuers can adopt to unlock economic savings while broadening investor engagement.
“We are incredibly proud of the quantitative and sales capabilities that our public finance teams put forth to help achieve these milestones for our clients this year,” said Keith Richard, Head of Public Finance at Siebert Williams Shank. “Siebert Williams Shank has invested heavily in quantitative personnel with exceptional technical acumen, which has allowed us to advance innovative solutions that have overcome market challenges.”
The Bond Buyer named winners in 10 categories, one in each of its five regional areas of coverage along with five in additional categories.
The Bond Buyer’s editorial board considered a wide range of factors when judging entries, including creativity, the ability to pull a complex transaction together under challenging conditions, the ability to serve as a model for other financings, and the public purpose for which a deal’s proceeds were used.
Dually headquartered in New York, NY and Oakland, CA, SWS is an independent non-bank financial services firm that offers investment banking, sales and trading, research, and advisory services. Its mission is to exceed expectations through value-added results and leave a lasting impact on the sectors, corporations, and communities it serves. SWS counts over 80 Fortune 100 companies among its clients.
